Daily Archives: April 24, 2020

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Though President Donald Trump has been not big in the empathy department during the coronavirus pandemiche more often talks about his own TV ratings than the tens of thousands Americans who have died during the crisisthe Trump campaign wants his supporters to know that Trump truly cares about them during this time of tragedy and hardship. As proof of Trumps deeply felt concern, his campaign is offering to send his devotees a set of Trump-Pence pint glasses. All for just a contribution of $31.

Yes, the Trump campaign is exploiting the coronavirus to sell campaign swag to Trump supporters. And it is claiming this is a beneficent act on the part of Trump himself.

This week, the Trump campaign sent out a bizarre email to its lists of supporters. Friend, it began, We have some exciting news to tell you. It noted that Trump knows the past few weeks have been extremely difficult for Americans from all across the Nation. Trump, the email said, appreciated those who have stood with him and wanted to do something special for them.

That special act Trump wished to perform for his supporter during this difficult stretch was to offer them EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to Official Trump-Pence Pint Glasses. Isnt that special? Though you may be suffering due to the coronavirus, you now can buy Trump junk. But, the email pointed out, you have to send in $31 for the set of these glasses by midnight. (That was a crockbecause the campaign zapped out this email two days in a row. There was no actual midnight deadline.)

This sounds like a bad joke. But its not. While tens of thousands of Americans are dying, Trump and his campaign decided he could console his supporters and show them hes on their side by peddling them campaign tchotchkes. And this emailsent out with the subject heading Cheersalso requested contributions of $250 and more. What could be more Trumpian? I will recognize this is a difficult period for you and other Americans by offering you the opportunity to help me.

The Trump campaigns fundraising emails often have the whiff of grift. They frequently tell supporters they can join an exclusive group of donorsbecome part of the Trump Gold Card Member circle!and be placed on a list of names that Trump will review personally, as long as they send in a donation immediately. (It can be as small of $35.) This is all bunk and goes above and beyond the usual political sales pitches.

Now the coronavirus pandemic has been seized upon by the Trump campaign as a marketing opportunity. Especially, given that so many Americans are currently self-isolating in their homes. In other recent fundraising solicitations, the campaign has peddled BRAND NEW Trump-Pence 2020 Playing Cards. Two decks for only $30. And the email for this offer proclaimed this was another special deal, for Trump has requested that we give you EARLY ACCESS to get these iconic cards before anyone else. Moreover, the email stated, this is the perfect time to buy playing cards: We know youre at home right now, doing your part to Keep America Safe, and there is no better way to keep yourself entertained AND support your President than by purchasing our Official Trump-Pence 2020 Playing Cards. Another campaign email offered an Official Trump Puzzle for $45. This note, too, declared that during a time of social isolation there is no better way to pass the time with family AND show your support for President Trump than by purchasing a Trump Puzzle.

Trump glasses, Trump cards, Trump puzzles. Theyre part of a long tradition: Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump University. If theres a chance to sell something, Trump will give it a try. (Another recent email from the campaign promoted Trump-Pence welcome mats.) Blatant commercialism and self-promotion is no surprise for Trump. That is his brand. But this week he and his campaign showed that they can surpass the usual Trumpish crassness by using the horrific coronavirus nightmare to make a buck by selling pint glasses bearing the campaigns logo. How long can it be before Trump and his campaign attempts to raise money by hawking MAGA face masks?

The rest is here:

Donald Trump Is Exploiting the Coronavirus Pandemic to Sell Campaign Swag - Mother Jones

Trevor Noah doesnt like much of what Donald Trump is doing to protect the country during the pandemic. His Daily Social Distancing Show makes that clear.

Tonight, he likened the President of the United States to the detached narrator dealing with a deranged fan in Eminems Stan, all because Trump said he disagreed with Georgia Governor Brian Kemps decision to open up certain businesses in that state soon. I respect him, Trump said. But Id wait a little longer.

Because Kemp is a Republican and supports Trump, Noah saw that as the ultimate betrayal, akin to telling Kemp to show up on a road at a certain time while Trump drove a bus over him.

This is what you get, said Noah. These guys trying so hard to suck up to him, then Bam!

Noah also took issue with Trump not knowing the name of a scientist dismissed from his job who was working on a coronavirus vaccine. He felt since Trump has time to watch television, including reruns of baseball games, that he should know the man.

If you have time to watch reruns of baseball, you have time for anything, Noah said, mentioning that baseball is boring even in real time. Reruns of it? Its like watching paint dry through a PowerPoint slide.

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Trevor Noah Says President Donald Trump Is Like Eminem In The Song Stan - Deadline

The leader of the most prominent group in the US peddling potentially lethal industrial bleach as a miracle cure for coronavirus wrote to Donald Trump at the White House this week.

In his letter, Mark Grenon told Trump that chlorine dioxide a powerful bleach used in industrial processes such as textile manufacturing that can have fatal side-effects when drunk is a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body. He added that it can rid the body of Covid-19.

A few days after Grenon dispatched his letter, Trump went on national TV at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on Thursday and promoted the idea that disinfectant could be used as a treatment for the virus. To the astonishment of medical experts, the US president said that disinfectant knocks it out in a minute. One minute!

He went on to say: Is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so itd be interesting to check that.

Trump did not specify where the idea of using disinfectant as a possible remedy for Covid-19 came from, and the source for his notion remains obscure. But the Guardian has learned that peddlers of chlorine dioxide industrial bleach have been making direct approaches to the White House in recent days.

Grenon styles himself as archbishop of Genesis II a Florida-based outfit that claims to be a church but which in fact is the largest producer and distributor of chlorine dioxide bleach as a miracle cure in the US. He brands the chemical as MMS, miracle mineral solution, and claims fraudulently that it can cure 99% of all illnesses including cancer, malaria, HIV/Aids as well as autism.

Since the start of the pandemic, Genesis II has been marketing MMS as a cure to coronavirus. It advises users, including children, to mix three to six drops of bleach in water and drink it.

In his weekly televised radio show, posted online on Sunday, Grenon read out the letter he wrote to Trump. He said it began: Dear Mr President, I am praying you read this letter and intervene.

Grenon said that 30 of his supporters have also written in the past few days to Trump at the White House urging him to take action to protect Genesis II in its bleach-peddling activities which they claim can cure coronavirus.

On Friday, hours after Trump talked about disinfectant on live TV, Grenon went further in a post on his Facebook page. He claimed that MMS had actually been sent to the White House. He wrote: Trump has got the MMS and all the info!!! Things are happening folks! Lord help others to see the Truth!

Paradoxically, Trumps outburst about the possible value of an injection of disinfectant into the lungs of Covid-19 sufferers came just days after a leading agency within the presidents own administration took action to shut down the peddling of bleach as a coronavirus cure around the US.

Last week the US Food and Drug Administration obtained a federal court order barring Genesis II from selling what was described as an unproven and potentially harmful treatment for Covid-19. The FDA also ordered a disciple of Genesis II, Kerri Rivera, to remove claims that MMS cured coronavirus from her website.

Last August the FDA issued an urgent warning urging Americans not to buy or drink MMS, which it said was a dangerous bleach which has caused serious and potentially life-threatening side effects. Drinking MMS can cause nausea, diarrhea and severe dehydration that can lead to death, the federal agency said.

The Guardian contacted the White House asking whether Grenons letter had influenced Trumps comments on disinfectant, but did not immediately receive a response.

Another advocate of bleach as a miracle cure who has been seeking to interest Trump in the treatment is Alan Keyes. He is a former ambassador and adviser to Ronald Reagan who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for the US Senate and on three occasions for the US presidency.

Keyes has featured Genesis II bleach products as a miracle cure on his online conservative TV show, Lets Talk America.

It is not known whether Keyes has discussed MMS with Trump. But the two men have overlapping interests.

Not only have they both featured in Republican party and presidential politics, but they were both leading proponents of the Birther conspiracy theory that wrongfully suggested Barack Obama was born outside America.

Keyess TV show is hosted on IAMtv, a rightwing web-based channel. IAMtvs other leading anchor is Bob Sisson, who has also advertised Genesis II bleach products on air.

In one of his shows, first reported by the Daily Beast, Sisson held up two bottles of Genesis II MMS and said: Gonna meet Trump, its only a matter of time. President Trumps gonna invite us up there, when he finds out about this stuff.

On Friday Trump claimed he was being sarcastic in his remarks but there is no evidence to back up that claim and he appeared entirely serious as he made them.

Continued here:

Revealed: leader of group peddling bleach as coronavirus 'cure' wrote to Trump this week - The Guardian

The first responders arrived 10 minutes after I called 911, suited head to toe in the white hazmat gear you see in disaster films. One of them came into the house and helped my husband down the stairs, shouting down to another EMT that he didnt think theyd need a BiPAP. I made a mental note to ask my doctor-cousin what a BiPAP was and whether it was good or bad that Josh didnt need one.

I love you, I yelled through the screen door as they wheeled Josh on a stretcher toward the ambulance. Our six-year-old son, AJ, stood in the foyer, watching the whole scene unfold with wide-eyed wonder: Who were these guys? And why were they wearing space suits? A scary thought crept into my mind, but I quickly told my brain to shut up. Were not going there. Of course hell survive this. I grabbed my sons hand as the ambulance sped off to the Northwell Health Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, New York, siren blaring. He didnt understand why I was crying.

If you told me on November 9, 2016, that in fewer than four years wed be hiding in our homes, terrified, fighting for our lives as society shut down around us, the only thing that would surprise me was that it didnt happen sooner. Whether it was a terrorist attack, an economic disaster, war, a global pandemic, or some combination of the above, I always knew that Donald Trump was beyond ill-equipped to handle a crisis, and that ifor whenone showed up, it would be an unmitigated catastrophe. This is why I cried after the 2016 election. This is why I still cant talk to people who didnt vote because they thought Hillary Clinton, the most qualified candidate to ever run for president, would have been just as bad. The situation in which America now finds itself is simultaneously shocking and totally inevitable, the Chaos Candidacy taken to its logical conclusion.

On March 15, when New York City schools were ordered closed, we packed up our car with food and over-the-counter medications and drove out to my parents unoccupied home on Long Island, grateful for a place to ride out the quarantine, not yet realizing that a 120-nanometer passenger had hitched a ride with us. Within daysonly two weeks after Trump told the American people that only 15 people in the U.S. had the coronavirus, and that within a couple of days [the number] is going to be down to close to zeromy otherwise healthy, 45-year-old husband was admitted to the ICU with a serious case of bilateral pneumonia, likely due to COVID-19. We suspected that he picked up the virus while traveling for work to Seattle, Sacramento, and Los Angeles in late February and early March, while our federal government publicly downplayed the severity of the crisis. Just stay calm, Trump had said on March 10. It will go away.

Its easier to be furious than scared, so I let the rage wash over me. I marinated in it. This was avoidable.

The week before Josh was hospitalized, as he isolated in an upstairs bedroom coughing, barely eating, and running a 103 fever, I tried desperately to get both of us tested. After all, Trump had told us on March 7 that anyone who wants a test can get a test. But like most things this president says, it was a lie. What he meant was that anybody who is a celebrity got a test. As a parade of NBA players, actors, and TV hosts came forward with the ultimate humblebrag of 2020that they had tested positive for COVID-19I turned to Twitter to express my outrage about the Kafkaesque hurdles I was experiencing.

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Donald Trumps Pathetic COVID-19 Response Is Killing Thousands of People - Vanity Fair

President Donald Trump weighed in on the news Friday that Randall Stephenson would be retiring and that John Stankey would succeed him.

Trump tweeted, Great News! Randall Stephenson, the CEO of heavily indebted AT&T, which owns and presides over Fake News @CNN, is leaving, or was forced out. Anyone who lets a garbage network do and say the things that CNN does, should leave ASAP. Hopefully replacement will be much better!

Stankey, however, has been chief operating officer since last fall and, before that, was CEO of WarnerMedia, the division that includes CNN.

Stankey also was present throughout AT&Ts defense of its proposed merger with Time Warner after the Justice Department challenged it in a landmark antitrust trial in 2018.

A judge ruled in favor of AT&T, allowing the merger to proceed, and an appeals court reaffirmed that decision before the government dropped the challenge.

Trump, though, opposed the merger from the start. During the campaign, he announced his opposition to the transaction, and it was rather clear then that the source of his discontent was over CNN, the network he has consistently bashed and tagged as fake news. He did so at Thursdays coronavirus press briefing, when he lashed out at correspondent Kaitlan Collins. As she pressed the president with a question about North Korea, he said, CNN is fake news. Dont talk to me.

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Donald Trump Cheers Exit Of Randall Stephenson From AT&T - Deadline

When it comes to the president, most people are dug in. They want him gone, or they admire him more than Abraham Lincoln. Tucked into the divide, though, is some small group still open to hearing what he has to say. Republican pollsters say theyve spotted these voters in their research. Neil Newhouse, who has polled for four different Republican presidential campaigns, told me about a survey his firm conducted last year showing that, of the voters who disapproved of Trumps job performance, 36 percent said they liked some of his policies and some actions that he took. Thats the prize. Theyre the voters Trump can target with an economic-nationalist position that may seem more relevant in the time of COVID-19, Newhouse and other Trump allies told me.

Read: The voters Trump needs most right now

An issue like thisnationalismcould come into play. They may not like everything hes doing, but they like the way hes standing up to China, Newhouse said. John McLaughlin, a Trump pollster who has also worked for dozens of Republican congressional and presidential candidates over the years, echoed that notion. There are some that may not like his style, but support his policies, and in particular, his economic-nationalist argument, he told me. Thats the persuadable middle. Thats where the votes are.

Even within this slice of the electorate, though, are some who see Trumps behavior as so repellent that they cant get past it. Donald Scoggins is one of them. A self-described moderate Republican from Northern Virginia, he backed Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries for a time and favored Trumps economic agenda, especially his pledge to bring manufacturing jobs home from overseas. He admires some of what Trump has done in office, especially Trumps passage of the First Step Act, a criminal-justice-system overhaul that reduced sentences for certain inmates. But its not enough to earn his vote. Youre the best thing since sliced bread if you agree with him, Scoggins, 74, a retired real-estate broker, told me. The minute you dont agree with him, he tends to denigrate you. Thats not an example we want for our youth.

Nor is a nationalist message certain to sway voters who have lost their jobs or fear that an ill-timed sneeze from somebody standing a few feet away might land them in the hospital. I dont know what argument is going to move 10 percent of the voters to Donald Trump, Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, told me, pointing to the bloc of voters who may be undecided. I dont know what that economic argument is, unless youre so mind-numbingly dumb that you believe the Chinese are the culprits behind the fact that youve lost 30 percent of your retirement.

Its also not clear that Chinas culpability is a top-of-mind concern for many Americans. Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, told me that in a survey he conducted in battleground states, people ranked what they believed should be the federal governments priorities in the face of the pandemic. At the top of the list: quashing the virus. At the bottom: holding China accountable for allowing it to spread.

See the article here:

Trumps Plan to Save His Presidency - The Atlantic

The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, released its long-awaited 156-page report detailing its investigation into allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election.

And what did their investigation find? That Russia engaged in a deep and broad effort to influence the outcome of the 2016 race, aiming to help Donald Trump win. "The Committee found no reason to dispute the Intelligence Community's conclusions," said Burr in a statement on his committee's findings.

Which now means that the following committees and communities have concluded the exact same thing about Russia's attempted interference in the last presidential election:

* The Senate Intelligence Committee

And to be honest, Trump has made his feelings about the proof that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him very, very clear. He's, um, skeptical.

So, yeah.

Here's the thing that the Senate Intelligence Committee report should drive home for Trump -- and everyone else: it is now entirely and completely beyond dispute that Russia sought to interfere in the last presidential election to help Trump and hurt Clinton.

In order to not believe that, you have to accept that the entire intelligence community, Mueller and his entire team and the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee are ALL in on some sort of elaborate and incredibly well-coordinated scheme to deceive the American public because, uh, they all don't like Trump or something?

It's fanciful. It's a conspiracy theory without even any nuggets of fact.

Why, then, is the President of the United States not convinced? Simple: Because he has never been able to hold these two ideas in his mind at the same time: 1) Russia meddled in the election to help him and 2) He's President anyway.

"That was a clean campaign. I beat Hillary Clinton easily. And, frankly, we beat her -- and I'm not even saying from the standpoint -- we won that race. ... We ran a brilliant campaign, and that's why I'm President."

In Trump's mind, acknowledging the fact -- and yes, it is a fact -- that Russia tried to help him win somehow robs him of the credit for winning that he obviously thinks he so richly deserves. I did this, not Russia, Trump is essentially saying. I get the credit. Not them. Me. Me!

It's, of course, obvious to anyone paying attention that both things can be true: Russia tried to interfere in the election and Trump ran a great race. Elections are very rarely won by a single factor alone. Luck, skill, your strengths, your opponent's weaknesses, uncontrollable outside events -- all of these things go into who wins and who loses. In 2016 and every other election.

Trump's blindness to the Russia reality isn't just a chapter for the history books either. Because we know Russia viewed its involvement in the 2016 race as a success and are hungry to create more chaos this November.

All of which means that the President's unwillingness to accept the FACT that Russia interfered once and they will do it again makes it much more likely that we won't be properly prepared for what's coming over the 195 days between now and November 3.

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The Senate just proved Donald Trump wrong -- again -- on Russian interference in 2016 - CNN

Donald Trump took a break from his scattershot coronavirus-pandemic management and his regular Twitter program to wish the New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams a happy birthday on Wednesday, writing, Happy Birthday to the great Cindy Adams of the New York Post. Cindy is 90, but looks 39 to me. She is going strong!

He also called her earlier in the week, according to Adamss column on Tuesday.

The column addressed the birthday celebration shed been planning before the crisis, which wouldve been held this coming Friday. Reached by phone on Wednesday, Adams said that with the party off, she had no plans. Im not gonna do anything, she said. She added that her housekeeper would like to make me goat curry. And I really dont think I want any goat curry for my birthday, instead of the 500 people I was going to give a huge five-course dinner to.

On the call with Trump, I remember saying, Dont worry about [Joe] Biden, he cant find his way to the urinal in the White House, Adams said. She was on speakerphone in the Oval Office, and the room erupted in laughter. I dont remember what other things we said or what Im gonna tell you about it, she said.

The cozy column and backatcha tweet caused some minor commotion on Twitter, coming as it did in the middle of a crisis that, by the confirmed numbers, has killed just under 50,000 people in the U.S., infected over 800,000 more, and generally thrown the country into varying degrees of distress. There was also Adamss waxing nostalgic about how the president used to try to date Miss Universe contestants while she was an official for the competition. In the column Adams wrote that she told Trump on the phone, If you could handle a locked skirt you can handle a locked-down country. The room broke out laughing. (At least 23 women have publicly made allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump. He has denied all the allegations.) Not that Adams was reading the comments, as it were. He tweeted whatever it was he tweeted today, she said on the phone on Wednesday.

Trump has long had a kind of codependent relationship with the New York City tabloids. If you worked for a newspaper in New York in the 1980s, you had to write about Trump, the former Post and Newsday editor and columnist Susan Mulcahy wrote for Politico a few months before Trumps election. At times, I would let several months go by without a single column mention of The Donald, she added. This doubtless upset him, as he loves Page Six and used to have it brought it to him the moment it arrived in his office.

Adams said that she and Trump have been friends for 50 years. Hes been to her home for dinner, as have many other politicians. Ive had mayors, governors, Ive had presidents here for dinner, Adams said. But they were nice, small little dinners. I never had 500 people at a dinner that I was arranging and I was paying for, and Im not ever doing it again.

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Yes, Cindy Adams Is Still Besties With Donald Trump: What Did We Expect? - Vanity Fair

Ramadanthe Muslim holy month of fastinghas officially started across the world, with politicians and celebrities alike sharing messages to the Muslim community on social media.

President Donald Trump issued a presidential message on Thursday, expressing wishes to all Muslims in the U.S. and around the world.

"For millions around the globe, this holy month is an opportunity to renew and strengthen their faith through rigorous fasting, devout prayer, reflective meditation, reading the Quran, and charitable deeds," read the message. "These acts are closely aligned with the universal values that the Islamic faith promotespeace, kindness, and love and respect for others.

"Over the past months, we have seen how important the power of prayer can be during challenging times. Today, as the holy month of Ramadan commences, I pray that those who are observing this sacred time find comfort and reassurance in their faith. Ramadan Mubarak."

Democrat Presidental 2020 candidate and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden shared his message from his blog: "As Muslim families across America and around the world celebrate the beginning of Ramadan, Jill and I want to extend our best wishes to all who are observing this holy month," he writes.

"Americans of all backgrounds have come to respect the discipline and values of Ramadan. We have stood in awe of athletes like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ibtihaj Muhammad as they abstained from food and drink during the heat of competition. We have seen Muslims give generously to strengthen our communities and lift up the most marginalized among us. Above all, we have felt the sense of unity, joy, and deep reflection that this month creates for our Muslim friends and neighbors."

Other politicians across the world gave their wishes to mark the start of the holy month. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared his message on his YouTube page, which talked about how Ramadan would be different for many Muslims this year. "While there is no doubt that Ramadan will be different this year, I know that people will still find ways to bring its true meaning to life."

He also asked Canadians to continue to observe social distancing, keeping shopping trips to once a week and holding celebrations with family members online.

Queen Rania of the Kingdom of Jordan shared her Ramadan message on her Instagram account. "Ramadan is always a time of great mercy and blessings," she wrotes. "Though we will miss sharing this holy month with friends and family gathered around Iftar, we have faith that God will soon reunite us and keep our beloved Jordan safe and healthy."

The U.K. Prime Minister's account (@10DowningStreet) shared its message to Muslims, reminding everyone in the country to observe social distancing rules. The U.K. is currently in lockdown due to the coronavirus, which was extended last week for a further three weeks.

"Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims in the U.K. and around the world," the message says. "This year Ramadan will be different. During this holy month, it is vital that we all stay at home so we can protect our NHS and save lives."

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the differing fasting times across the world during Ramadan 2020.

Read more:

Ramadan Mubarak: Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, Queen Rania and Others Share Messages to Mark Muslim Holy Month - Newsweek

What do celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson, Suze Orman, Valerie Jarret and Iyanla Vanzant have in common? Well, they're stuck at homelike the rest of us, and they've allbeen featured on April Ryan's new Instagram Live show, "Covid Conversations." Many know Ryan from her work as a CNN political analyst and herrole as a White House correspondent for the American Urban Radio Networks. While she's stuck at home and unable to go to the White House, she started her own show Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m.ET on her Instagram. No lights and no stage just Ryan at her desk with her phone.

Ryan has coveredpresidents for more than20 years and is the realest interviewer I've ever met. Other than celebrities, Ryan has also had a number of politicians on "Covid Conversations," includingRep. Karen Bass and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. From finance and relationship advice to the time Kim Fields met Michael Jackson and Prince, Ryan's show offers rich, honest reflection that we need to make it through thesedangerous times.

Ryan and I discussed her show, her assessment of President Trump and his response to the coronavirus pandemic,and how physical distancing has given her a new perspective on covering the news.Watch my "Salon Talks" with April Ryan here, or readour conversation below.

People who have homes and who have the luxury of staying home have been stressed out during quarantine. They can't handle it. ButI feel like we're from Baltimore, so we're wired a little differently.

D. Watkins, you are right. We're wired differently. Bishop Walter Scott Thomas from Baltimore said to me, "Baltimoreans are not like any other resident of any other city because this is the only city where you have the word failure built into your existence." I said, "Wow, that's so true." To stop from failing, it's about surviving and trying to get out. My thing is, we have seen the bottom, we've seen rock bottom, and we know how to deal at rock bottom.

All of us are struggling. People who had the privilege before have lost paychecks or have had their paychecks cut, and what was privilege before coronavirus the new BC is now a different privilege. Those who are the hourly workers are yearning to go back to work, to pay their rent, to pay for food, to pay for doctors for their kids, versus people who are still getting a check and their companies are saying, "Oh, work from home right now." We're considered the ones who are privileged.

If you work at a market or if you deliver packages for Amazon, you are on the front lines right now. When I check in with my family and the people who I have to take care of and send money to, the stories are different than when I talked to some of my artist friends who are like, "Oh, I can't create in this space." I'm like, "You're not in jail, you're not homeless, you should be thankful."

This is the time, this is the creative space. This is the time. I'm using it. First of all, I thank God for everyone. I thank God for those on the front lines, the doctors, the nurses, ambulance drivers, those who take care of people. I thank God for those who are working at Amazon. I'm not taking my dog to the groomer, I'm not taking my dog to the vet, I'm not taking my children to the hairdresser, I'm buying all kinds of shampoos. I got the dog a nail grinder. I've been ordering. I'm trying not to go out. I've been ordering from Instacart. Thank God for them.

They have to work and I thank God for all of them. To be quite frank, we cannot be so high that we don't understand what's going on and understand the plight of everyone. I told my kids, I said, "Look, if mommy loses her paycheck, mommy's going to Amazon. If mommy loses her paycheck, she's going to be going to Instacart or something." And that's the reality of life. Things have changed. It's like that book, "Who Moved My Cheese?" You cannot stay and die, you have got to live and survive. This is a time to be creative and to really take the emotion out of it and look at what is.This is fighting time, survival. D, we've been through it. We live it in Baltimore.

As the great Toni Morrison says, "This is the time when artists go to work."

Right, exactly. So, what are my strengths? What are my strengths? What am I doing? Not only my strengths to do something else or to create, but also to preserve my mind. Because if you keep watching the news, if you're innocent and if you're watching the president vacillate or give misinformation and you're like, "What more?" You got to be able to learn how to pull away and find yourself.

I joke about this, running from 'rona, I'm finding myself, or running to myself, finding out who I am. You've got to laugh to keep from crying. I wake up in the morning in panic sometimes and I can't go there, and that's happened at least twice to me. I've had terrible dreams and I cannot go there. I am the head of my household with two daughters. And you know as a parent yourself, if you are out of line, everyone else is out of line.

Exactly.

You've got to keep the morale up and you've got to keep it going. So, what am I doing? I am working every day from home, because I'm one of those people, like millions of people globally, who have underlying issues. I'm not going to the White House right now questioning the president, but I am talking to the people who talk to the president, who are in his ear, my sources. He doesn't know whoI'm talking to, but I'm talking to people and still getting the stories out in real time.

I'm talking to Susan Rice, former national security adviser, I'm talking to Jeh Johnson, former head of Homeland Security, who says, "We are in a national security crisis." This is not just national emergency, this is a national security crisis. I've talked to the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, who says that there is still a need for testing kits, masks and ventilators in Detroit, as the president is talking about opening up the nation.

Since you bring up Michigan, have you been seeing these crazy anti-social-distancing rallies in Michigan and other places? What's going on with that?

The president wants to open it up because it will look like a victory for him. We haven't hit the numbers that were anticipated and now we're opening it up and it looks like a victory. Butyou can't say it's a victory when people are still being infected and there's a chance of more people dying. And you see, when China reopened, more people were infected again, and some people were re-infected. So, this is something you've never seen before. People want to do this anti-distancing and I don't call it social distancing, we're socially connected, but we're physically distant. We need to say "physical distancing," to be correct. But, at the end of the day, we have to stop. This is not about President Trump, this is not about Joe Biden, this is about people and their lives. This is not a political thing. The economics does play into it and I get it, but you cannot open up full societies, particularly societies that are being hit.

Michigan has been hit hard and Michigan is a very blue-collar state. You've got a lot of auto industry there, you've got so much there. And I get it, but we have to be very cautious in our steps forward, and the question is, is the psyche going to allow us to be like we used to be?

You've covered a couple of White Houses. Is this your fifth president? Fourth president?

Fourth president. I started with Bill Clinton. I was there for Monica Lewinsky. I'm older than I look, D. But here's the thing, this president let's start by saying he wanted to drain the swamp and he wanted to bring new faces into Washington. That's red flag No. 1, scarlet red flag No.1. You need people at a time such as this, when there's that hidden variable that can come and upset the apple cart, who know what to do. He destroyed his national intelligence security team. He was warned about this and he called it the Democratic hoax. Yes, he may have shut down travel from China, but he kept calling it a hoax. He didn't take it seriously enough and he kept saying it's nothing but the flu, and now 100 percent of the nation is shut down, stay-at-home orders because of this.

This president, he believes that he knows everything. At one point, he was almost to the point where he was an MD, and I'm like hmm. So the bottom line is this president wants the world to get back to normal well, all of us do. He's listening to Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx about keeping it shut down, but the question is, did it have to be the way it is now? Listening to the former national security adviser and former UN ambassador, Susan Rice, she said this could have been prevented. It would not have been this bad if they would have dealt with it. Not only that, they shut down the offices that they set up for pandemics. They disregarded the advice of Susan Rice and others. Her counterpart, she says she met with him for 12 hours on various occasions, Michael Flynn, and Michael Flynn didn't say anything. They dismantled the office that would handle this, and they don't have a crisis management team right now.

How long do you think this is going to last?

Dr. Fauci and many of the infectious disease officers are saying that it's a work in progress with the antibodies. They thought the antibodies from those who had this were show up really well for the vaccination, but now they're saying it's a work in progress. It didn't pan out the way they thought. So, understandthat they're looking for a vaccine and the vaccine will take at least a year to a year and a half, and then once you get the vaccine you have to mass market it. Once you mass market it, you still have to go through the process of immunizingnot just the nation, but the world. This is going to be an ebb and flow for at least two years.

Do you think we're going to be home for two years?

I don't know what we're going to be, but this is going to be an ebb and flow for two years. And I don't believe the stuff about the summer, because I'm going to tell you about the summer. New Orleans is warm and they still have it. Louisiana was hit hard. California has it, and that's a warm state. So, I don't believe the warm weather thing.

One of the things that a lot of us have found joy in during the pandemic is your new Instagram Live show. You are having real, serious and moving conversations with everyone from Suze Orman toKim Fields, Iyanla Vanzant and Samuel L. Jackson.

We've had a lot of great guests. And we're going to get someone who deals with skin and hair because I'm going to tell you something, as a black woman who's never done her hair, I'm going to have someone talk about natural hair and skin in the midst of this, because we're not able to go to the store like we used to. This show is my first attempt to heal because I didn't understand it. I knew if I was hurting, I knew other people were hurting. I wanted to give information, I wanted to uplift and inform. We are so bogged down with bad news.

It hurt me when I started seeing the reports that people were fighting in the house. Domestic violence has risen, child abuse is on the rise. It is bothering me to hear those things as my children and I the first couple of days we were like, "Look, the best way for us to get along is come together and give each other space." We have been doing very well. I've discovered my children think that they are chefs, they are making anything. My daughter made some kind of lemon-zest mashed potatoes with garlic in it. I was like, "Oh, yes." Thenshe fried steak. She said, "Mommy, I need some white wine." I said, "I'm not giving you my white wine," and I was looking on Instacart to see if I had any white cooking wine, they didn't have it. I said, "Here, take this moscato." I don't drink anyway, so I said, "Here, take this moscato." It was thebest steak I've ever had. It was restaurant style, it was better than Ruth's Chris. I didn't need to put any white sauce on it.

I love it.

We're finding ways to come together. I knew a lot of my friends were hurting and I said, if I'm hurting, if they're hurting, let me do something. That's when I got Iyanla on. Before that, Sabrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, asked me, "Could we do something together?" She wanted to do something with me, Iyanlaand Bishop Vashti McKenzie, and I said, "Yeah, let's do it," and we did it and it was such an outpouring. I said, "Wait a minute, there's something here. People are hurt."

How do you select your guests?

It's people that cross my path that I like, or they like me. D, we're blessed to be in this business and we come across some fascinating individuals and fascinating stories.We talk real stuff because we are in such a hard time. It's not only hitting our health, our family, but it's hitting our pocketbook, and I want to inform. That's the nature of what I do and who I am. Mine is about information, giving you something that you can use, but if there's a laugh along the way to ease the pain, let's do that. I want to uplift, inform, and give you a how-to. I want you to be able to come through this, and it's my therapy.I'm human like everyone else. I have opened my eyes in panic at least two nights, and last night I had a terrible dream, a terrible dream. It is my therapy.

We're going to have a love counselor, once again because you think your home is your palace. But for some, it's become their prison because their safe space is not their homebut their school or their workplace. Because at home, they could be dealing with an abusive spouse or someone who's drinking or it's just not safe. That really has bothered me, because my mother, growing up in Baltimore, no matter what happened, my home was my castle. I've tried to make that for my children as well, and it hurts me to hear that. We are hurting right now as people in the midst of this, and it hurts my heart to hear that people don't have the tools to get along.

I don't know how long we're going to be in this thing. I got to teach my children how to cook and I got to learn how to do theirhair. It's tough not to be at the White House every day, because I have underlying issues. I'm still working, but it's tough because that is in my blood. I let that go about a week into it. I said, "OK, you got this." I'm watching the briefings, but it's tough.

We're happy you're healthy.

I had to run from death threats, and now I've got to run from 'rona. People are like, "Why aren't you in the briefing room?" I'm like, "Look, No. 1, I got underlying issues, and 'rona exacerbates those things, and will kill you." If I ran from death threats and had a bodyguard, do you think I'm going to sit there and let 'rona kill me? No, I'm a runner.

Is there going to be an April Ryan talk show after this? I think we need it. You're covering the survival skills and the coping mechanisms, and the fun stuff, and the steak recipes.

From your mouth to God's ear.I've always wanted a TV show and if that's for me, God bless. I thank God that I'm able to do my hair and do my own makeup. I sat there and watched in the makeup chair at CNN, watched all the great makeup artists. So, if they want to put a camera here, I'm ready to go, let's do it.

I'm a kid from Baltimore who just happened upon this. I feel like the black female Forrest Gump. I happened upon this and if people like it, I'm like, "Wow, OK." Next I'm having Jonathan McReynolds, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the head of the Democratic Caucus, and also the back part of that half hour is the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Karen Bass. Then, I'm going to have the hair doctor, Dr. Kendrick, and then Valerie Jarrett.

We've got some big names that we reached out to, we're going to see. We've got a lot of how-tos. This is a time of creativity we're trying to foster. We want to be there for you. So, I'm just honored that you would think of me and that you're watching.

Let me tell you something, you find out who you are in the midst of this trying time. My daughter, my youngest daughter, will pop the chain off every bike that's in this house. I wound up figuring out how to undo the chain and put it back on right. Normally I'm like, "Let's go to the bike shop," and I said, "I can do this," and so I'm figuring stuff out. I got a snake. If we have a clogged toiletI can do that too, because I'm not calling people in here. I think this is the time that we find out our strengths and our limitations.

Since I was a little kid, I ate from carry-outs, the corner store. Now I cook breakfast.

What do you cook for breakfast?

French toast.Sometimes I make egg sandwiches.

Wait a minute, you make your own French toast? You make homemade French toast?

I dip the bread in the egg and a little cinnamon, a little nutmeg, a little bit of vanilla.

Yes! Yes, you are. I'm proud of you.

These days are short, they're not long. I break away and do a little bit of writing, orwe do our interviews.It's just blessed, I'mjust taking it one day at a time.

My kids are doing online work, and I'm working during the day. I normally don't do this during the day because I'm still working during the day. The president's on at 5:30, and I watch that until it's time for me to do my IG Live. ButI make sure the girls are doing their work and then we come together, we play around, I sit with them and fix lunch for them. Thenwe have dinner in the evenings or they'll make dinner themselves, and it's been such a blessed time of talking with them and being with them, and they're so funny. If you can find the little pieces of joy in this, look for them, because it's so easy to be negative. Butfind thelittle pieces of joy because you're going to fall back on them. This is a moment that you're going to say, "We got through that together." This is atime of creativity for everyone.

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April Ryan on her Instagram show, Donald Trump and lockdown as a "creative space" - Salon